Keeping Promises
by Ish
Summary: Being brothers means a lot of things, both good and bad. But would Eiri break his promise to Tatsuha?  Not Uesugicest.


**Title:** Keeping Promises  
**Author: **Ish  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gravitation. But I want a chibi Tatsuha. I think…

"Keeping Promises"

"Ani?"

Eiri groaned and rolled the other way, praying that his brother would get the hint and go back to his own futon. No such luck. The hand tugged at his covers again. Outside the pounding of the rain almost covered the nervous shuffling of little feet against the tatami. Almost, but not quite. Apparently he'd better start dedicating himself around the temple more as Buddha seemed unwilling to help him against a certain eight year old menace to his sleep.

"Aniki?" Tatsuha whined, wanting his brother to pay attention to him NOW. Eiri turned around and glared. If that boy's lower lips stuck out any further it was going to fall right off his face. That was it. The next day he was demanding his own room.

"What is it? You should have been asleep" - a squint at the green glowing numbers of his alarm clock revealed it to be way past both of their bedtimes – "hours ago."

"I tried! I really did!" Dear god… Were those tears welling up in the brat's eyes? Eiri squinted. Yup. They were. He sighed, lifting up his arm and the covers. Tatsuha crept beneath them, snuggling up against him with a sniffle.

"Come on. You're too old to be doing this." He concentrated on keeping his tone light, not wanting to upset the kid any further.

"I know." Tatsuha snuffled and wiped his pajama sleeve across his face. "I'm sorry. It's just – why did Papa get so mad at me today?"

Oh. Eiri didn't answer, pulling his little brother closer. Their father had stalked off in fury when Tatsuha had proudly announced his intention to marry the lead singer of some new band at the dinner table. It had most likely been brought on by the upcoming wedding of one of Mika's friends. Their sister was going to be a bridesmaid and had been preparing excitedly for it non-stop for the past month. A little too excitedly as far as Eiri was concerned. Tatsuha had been dragged into the excitement by their sister and her plans, which appeared to lead him to his dinner-time declaration of love. If Tatsuha had declared he was going to marry some girl from school, or even some famous actress, their father would have just laughed it off. But no. Tatsuha would chose some 20-something rock star, who probably had groupies lining up outside of his dressing room - not to mention inside of it, if half of what Eiri had heard about Sakuma Ryuichi was true. _His _dressing room.

Wherein lay the crux of the problem.

"Do you remember what we were talking about at dinner today?"

Tatsuha wriggled free of the blond's tight grasp, thinking hard.

"Uh huh, I do. Aneki's yucky tuna, and you going with Papa to some big temple maybe, and me going to play baseball with Shinji-san if I was _really _good and ate all my fish and vegetables. Which I didn't really ani. I hid some in my napkin. Because it really was disguisting." Tatsuha elongated the last word, proclaiming it with relish. Such a big word was sure to impress his older, book-smart, brother. When no comment was made, he slipped back into his depression. He was sure he must have done something awful, though as to what he had no idea.

Eiri repressed a sigh. "No, not that." The teen frowned. How the hell was he going to explain the social antagonism against homosexuality to an elementary school kid? He gave the ceiling a long-suffering gaze but the ceiling, like always, was no help at anything but keeping the rain off of their heads. Best to go straight out with it, he figured, in the plainest terms possible.

"Boys don't marry other boys Tatsuha."

"That's stupid! You're supposed to marry someone you love, right? Well I love Sakuma-san!" Eiri shook his head, a faint smile growing across his face despite the situation. So much for that approach. Then again, Tatsuha had never understood why people made fun of his older brother for having blond hair. Things like that didn't matter to Tatsuha, so why should the gender of his bride-to-be? Groom-to-be. Whatever. He brushed a lock of dark hair out of the kid's face. Underneath was a small raised scratch. It was a left-over from a fight Tatsuha had gotten into several days ago. Mika had taken the two of them out to see a movie and while she was off purchasing snacks and drinks some older boys had started on picking on Eiri for his gaijin looks. Eiri wanted to chuckle a bit at the memory. Tatsuha had charged the boys and head-butted one of them right in the stomach. Fortunately, Mika had been there to break up the scuffle before it got out of hand.

His brother's breathing wasn't as erratic anymore but the thin shoulders were still shaking every now and then. He was confused and upset and Eiri was his big brother. If Tatsuha was willing to charge some kid with several inches and at least 30 pounds on him, Eiri supposed he could share his blanket for a little while longer.

"Papa will get over it someday. Meanwhile I'll always be there for you when you need me. Okay?"

"Promise?"

He ruffled the black hair affectionately. "I promise. Now go to sleep you little brat."

Eight years later, in the middle of another rainy night, Eiri opened his door to a wet, bedraggled, and red-eyed Tatsuha and pulled him in without a word.

**A/N: **_Ani vs. Aniki: (With apologies to those who already know. I just learned it this year actually.) Ani is the polite form of oniisan or older brother. Ki was originally a suffix meaning precious but has nowadays taken on a sarcastic meaning. Therefore aniki is actually __less polite than oniisan._

_I wanted to write a short piece focusing on the brotherly relationship between Tatsuha and Eiri. Also, chibi Tatsuha is too adorable to leave alone. I had some trouble writing a young child so I hope I did all right. Any and all opinions are welcome._


End file.
